Pentagon Myths and Global Realities: The 1993 Military Budget

by Jeffrey R. Gerlach

Jeffrey R. Gerlach is a foreign policy
analyst at the Cato Institute.

Executive Summary

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse
of communism represent a clear-cut victory for the United
States in its four-decade struggle against the USSR. As the
Soviet threat has disappeared, many Americans have been
calling for a cut in military spending--the so-called peace
dividend. The Bush administration has recently released its
proposed strategies for the defense of the United States in
the post-Cold War world. Statements by President Bush, Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin L. Powell, and other officials
allege that the military fully understands the implications
of the end of the Cold War and has responded by presenting a
budget proposal that is much leaner than previous budgets.
The figures are based on a new strategy designed to replace
the doctrine of containment that has served as a blueprint
for U.S. planning since the late 1940s. Despite the rhetoric
of the administration, however, it is clear that the proposals represent very little new thinking. Instead, they simply
redirect U.S. efforts at global containment to a variety of
regional contingencies.